Talking Points
Episode 7 of Partner Track starts with Ingrid sporting her new engagement ring back home. She’s in bed with Nick and appears to have embraced this idea. Nick continues to call her “sugarplum” which I guess is a step-up from snuggle muffin! However, Ingrid receives word that her apartment is now done and she can move back in. Nick isn’t so sure and believes they should stay together instead. Ingrid refuses to wear the ring to work though, believing it would jeopardize her chances at making partner. Despite that, she’s apparently okay with telling her parents about the engagement that night at the gala, and smiles warmly at Nick when he suggests it. Meanwhile, Rachel has a follow-up interview for her writer gig. She’s also still with Justin and he helps support her, encouraging Rachel just to be herself. Unfortunately part of this also includes not talking to Ingrid… until they’re thrown together on the same case. It turns out the Victoria divorce settlement has not gone down well with Alistair, who immediately sees through the proposal offered and knows he’s getting the short end of the stick. Rachel reprimands Ingrid for even offering this and eventually scathingly calls out Ingrid for selling her soul. As they talk, Rachel immediately throws out that she’s screwing Justin… just as Justin and Victoria walk into the room. Oof. When Ingrid leaves, Rachel takes charge of the situation and learns more about Alistair. It turns out he’s into gambling and Rachel decides to use that to her advantage. She meets with Alistair and concocts a situation where he rifles through her documents, which includes incriminating and damning details about his past. When Rachel re-enters the room, Alistair has a change of heart and decides to settle. Meanwhile, Ingrid and Jeff are once again teamed up together to greet a new prospective client. This woman happens to be Cleo Bajaj. She happens to be the heiress to a real-estate empire in India, and she runs Intersection Principal Investment for a big private equity fund. Marty is convinced she’s sitting on a stack of cash and wants to exploit that. Specifically in bringing her onboard and making her aware that Valentine run the best M&A firm in New York. Cleo shows up with her partners Nella and Lacey, immediately questioning Parson Valentine’s business deals. Although they have the highest push-through rate in NY, the Sun Corp deal is still not settled, which they all inquisitively ask about. Cleo is surprised by the whole ordeal but as they continue on, she makes it known that they intend to move into the green tech sector in the future. They want to be with companies that are socially responsible. As for Ingrid, she senses something fishy going on. After the meeting, Ingrid finds herself going back over the details of these clients. With a bit of due diligence, Ingrid realizes that these guys are actually part of NewLeaf and trying to pump them for information on the Sun Corp case. Ingrid’s interjection manages to save the day. They feed back their findings to Marty, who thanks them for their good work. With the Mins invited along to the Diversity Gala, Nick gets Ingrid a dress to wear but she’s not exactly enthused given it’s yellow. It’s not her favourite but she wears it all the same. Marty is there too and he meets Ingrid’s parents. During Marty’s speech, Ingrid is given a big award for Diversity, and she uncomfortably stands up to accept her award. Her speech is written up all for her, with Tyler written off as a “bad apple” and Ingrid uncomfortably claiming Parson Valentine’s are leading the charge on equity, diversity and inclusion. After dropping off the award, Ingrid takes a break to compose herself. Ingrid’s mum follows her daughter to the bathroom, where Ingrid points out that this isn’t her. However, she also notices the ring box in her purse and gives Ingrid some solid advice, telling her she needs to be true to who she is, even if that means hurting some people along the way. And that night, Ingrid decides to crash at her own place, seeing off Nick as he heads home. When Ingrid returns to her apartment, a knock at the door brings two policemen who look set to arrest her.
The Episode Review
We finally get back on track with the law and cases in this law drama during episode 7. Of course, there’s still the usual array of character drama and romance but the balance is much better in this chapter. Ingrid is faced with a difficult decision moving forward and I’d imagine we’ll see that compound into her choosing not to be with Nick after all and calling off the wedding. However, the whole drama at the Diversity Gala is certainly telling and it’s clear Ingrid may well decide not to be partner after all. Still, we’ll have to wait and see what that shocking ending involving the police is all about and what this means for the future.
